Cal Poly Beach Volleyball picked up two wins in the six-match Bigger West Tournament on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26.
The Mustangs (7-17) played host to six fellow Big West squads over the weekend.
Saturday vs. Sacramento State
Cal Poly opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Sacramento State.
The sweep happened in order, with the No. 1 court finishing first and the No. 5 court closing out the win.
After spending much of this season with new partners, senior Jayelin Lombard and sophomore Piper Ferch were back together at the No. 1 court, and they cruised to a 21-13, 21-16 victory.
The biggest beatdown of the Bigger West came with No. 2 senior Delaney Peranich and graduate Brooke Golik’s 21-8 set-two victory to extend the 2-0 lead.
Junior Julia Soeller and freshman Emma Zuffelato were paired up at court three, the first time the pairing played at this court together, and went on to a 21-15, 21-13 victory.
Pairs four and five both had a set move into tiebreaker points, but the duos closed out in two sets.
Saturday vs. No. 8 Hawaii
The second match of the day was a complete flip of the script, with Cal Poly getting swept 5-0 by the Rainbow Wahine.
The Mustang pairings looked different up top for the second go of the day. The young No. 1 duo of Ferch and freshman Izzy Martinez won set one 21-17, but lost set two and narrowly fell 15-13 in the tiebreaker third.
Bumped down one spot to No.3, Peranich and Golik had all three of their sets decided by two points – the lowest margin possible.
The duo lost 21-19, pushed out a 24-22 win, then dropped 15-13 in the tiebreaker.
Court two, four and five all fell in two sets to the Rainbow Wahine.
Saturday vs. No. 12 Long Beach State
Pairings remained the same in the 4-1 loss to Long Beach State.
The lone win for Cal Poly came from Peranich and Golik, 14-21, 22-20, 15-13. All season long, the upperclassmen pair has pushed sets into extra points and extended matches to the third set.
No other Mustang pairing managed to send its matchup to three sets.
Sunday vs. CSU Bakersfield
Cal Poly lost to the Roadrunners 3-2 to open up the second day of the tournament.
At the one spot, Ferch and Martinez picked up a two-set win, 21-14, 21-10, to put Cal Poly up 1-0.
At court three, Peranich and Golik picked up the only other Mustang win, 21-19, 21-19.
After courts two and five went the way of the Roadrunners in two sets, it came down to Soeller and Zuffelato on No. 4. The matchup went three sets, and Bakersfield came out on top, 21-12, 12-21, 15-12.
Sunday vs. UC Davis
The Mustangs once again fell 3-2 in their second matchup on Sunday against the Aggies.
The first match to finish was Ferch and Martinez on court one, who dominated their way to a 21-16, 21-6 win.
After a UC Davis win at the No. 4 spot, Cal Poly got a three-set win from junior Piper Naess and Lombard, 21-14, 14-21, 15-10.
However, the Aggies responded with back-to-back wins at courts two and five and picked up the overall victory.
Sunday vs. CSU Northridge
Cal Poly picked up a 4-1 win over the Matadors in the last matchup of the Bigger West Invitational.
In the third spot, Lombard and Naess cruised to the first point of the match with a win, 21-12, 21-12.
It was more Mustang domination on court one, where Ferch and Martinez won their matchup 21-10, 21-15.
Peranich and Golik then clinched the win over CSUN by taking down their opponents, 21-19, 21-13.
The fourth and final win of the day came on court five, as Zuffelato and senior Kalee Graff walked away with a 21-15, 21-17 victory.
Cal Poly will host yet another home tournament in the form of the Mustang Invitational on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2 at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.